The VANGUARD project aims to generate a bioartificial vascularized and immunoprotected pancreas that can be transplanted into non-immunosuppressed patients, combining advanced elements of tissue engineering such as 3D organoids, hydrogel design, the assembly of bioartificial organs and gene editing via CRISPR-Cas9.

This approach will produce cell therapy in the form of an advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP), which can significantly improve the treatment of type 1 diabetes.

The project involves a consortium with 9 partners from 5 European countries.

The consortium is coordinated by the University of Geneva (Switzerland) with the participation of our University, UPO (Italy); the hospital San Raffaele-Università Vita e Salute (Italy); the University of Lyon Claude Bernard (France); the University of Munich Ludwig-Maximilians (Germany); a Swiss biotech company Kugelmeiers A;, the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT); the University of Rotterdam Erasmus Medical Center (Holland) for the ethical issues of the project; and the company that manages the consortium, accelopment Schweiz AG in Switzerland.